Work State of Mind [Infographic]

Matthew Gates http://notetoservices.com 3m 737 #workstateofmind

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

Work is not a place, it is a state of mind.

When you go to work, work is work. You acquire all the problems that your company has been facing and is currently facing. You attempt to solve problems and come up with solutions. Your company expects you to be completely focused on your job. That is, after all, what you are getting paid to do.

Unfortunately, your personal life and your professional work life will always intervene with each other. When you go to work, you are expected to drop your personal life and tend to your duties at work. When you return home, you may or may not be expected to continue working there. This will surely cause problems with your family.

You have been at work all day from 9 to 5. You come home and you return back to working? This is a sign of a workaholic and may be very unacceptable to your family, putting lots of strain and tension between you and your spouse and children. Attempt to find a balance. If you must still work an hour or two after you return home from work, than establish this with your family, but put a time limit to the amount of time you spend working at home.

Before you know it, your life will pass before your eyes. The irony is that you’ve been working to ensure your family is happy, yet no amount of money will ever replace the amount of time you could be spending with your family. Quality time with your family is the most important thing you will learn after years of dedicating many hours to your job.

There are times in your life where everything goes slow. Overall, life goes very fast. Your kids are grown up. You do not want to miss out on the great moments of their lives. Learn to leave your work life at work and when you come home, learn to wind down, relax, and focus your mind on your home life. There is enough drama in both worlds for you to deal with.

Family, of course, should always take priority over your job. You should dedicate as much time as you can to getting your work done and minimize the days you take off from your job. Make sure that your family understands your work responsibilities, but make sure your job understands any special needs they need to take into consideration for your family. Balancing the two is not always easy, but we all live these two parts of our lives everyday. There are a total of 168 hours in a week. We dedicate over 40 hours a week to our family, and another 40 hours or more a week to our jobs. There is still another 88 hours to take into consideration, and that time is spent commuting, sleeping, and the very rare, personal time.

Find a balance!

This infographic explains how much time we dedicate to work even when we are not at work!

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The @Work State of Mind

The Internet, mobile phones, and social networking having eliminated the boundaries of time and space that once defined the work place.

HOME & WORK

98% send work-related emails nights & weekends

63% check work email every 1-2 hours during non-work hours

53% step away from dinner to deal with business issues

3% never send/receive work emails or have business discussions while on vacation

98% deal with personal matters at the office

FEELING IN CONTROL with the constant stream of information:

40% feel empowered
44% feel well-prepared
15% say they struggle to separate work from personal/family life

FREEDOM AND FLEXIBILITY

People no longer feel rushed to make business decisions and instead value freedom and flexibility that the @Work State of Mind allows.

77% say personal values influence their decisions

56% say personal social networks influence their decisions

73% say they make better decisions because they have more time to think

59% make business decisions in the home

Work is not a place anymore. It is a state of mind.

gyro: The @work state of mind study is collaborative effort between gyro and Forbes Insights. The report is based on a survey of 545 business executives conducted online and via the phone. All respondents described themselves as decision-makers with 65% ranging in title from C-level to VP.

It can be downloaded at www.gyro.com/atwork

Matthew Gates is a freelance web designer and currently runs Confessions of the Professions.

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